Pool Party Food Grazing

When you hear the word holidays, you usually think of Thanksgiving and Christmas time, however, holidays in the food world truly happen all year around. Summer holidays include a lot of backyard barbecues and pool parties. They are ideal for grazers. Yet, its hard for type 1s to graze. Accurately carb counting and dosing for grazing is a challenge that most cannot beat, though I'm sure all accept the challenge and try.

First, there is the assortment of food. Second, there is the serving sizes (who eats only seven chips or one cookie?!?). Then, there is the time frame. So the questions ensue...do I bolus half now, see what I eat and bolus more later? What happens if I bolus too much to start then I have a low (real soda and juices are on hand)? What if I don't bolus enough and I go super high and struggle to come back down?

Most people don't realize the thought processes that T1Ds must go through just to eat.

It is something that is very often taken advantage of. Yet, it is so important to try and get the right dosage calculated. In simple terms doses are calculated by: 1. Current blood sugar (if high, extra insulin is given) and 2. Carbs being consumed. Carb ratios are calculated with the help of the doctor to determine the best dosage to keep you in range (usually 70-150). The basel or slow acting insulin is considered for the ratio amount and looking at better long term managing. Ratio's vary for each individual and change periodically depending on so many factors, for example, hormones, activity levels, stress, and geographical locations. 

So at the party, one would check out the food options, think about what they will eat and how much of it, then add up all those estimated carbs, take into consideration the time duration for consuming the carbs, and then dose their insulin based on their unit to carb ratio. 

As we prepare for the Fourth of July tomorrow, I've created a little cheat sheet for what options we may have. What are common foods you have a BBQs and how do you calculate the carbs?